Diplomats wanted to know whether voters are being pressurized to cast vote: CEC

Foreign diplomats wanted to know if the voters are being pressurized to cast their votes in the elections, said Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal said.

He was speaking at the inaugural program of the Media centre for 12th national Parliamentary Election 2024 at Hotel Sonargaon Hotel in the capital on Thursday afternoon.

EC Kazi Habibul said that diplomats working in the different foreign missions and international organizations also asked whether the EC has received any complaints from the contestants regarding the polls, about the polls result announcement process and polls related to other issues.

Earlier he, along with other members and officials from the Election Commission, attended a briefing for the head of missions and international organizations at the same hotel.

During the briefing, while replying to a question about if the voters are being pressurized to cast their votes he said that casting votes is fully voters right and there is no pressure from the EC or from the government to put any pressure on them.

"But there could be pressure from the faction that boycotted the election as part of preventing people from casting votes," he added.

Following a question on complaints from the contestants regarding polls he said that they have received some 600 such complaints and almost all of them were addressed.

To keep the poll time environment safe some 3,000 executive magistrate will be on duty during national elections, he informed the diplomat.